A GRANDMA and three children were lucky to escape a house blaze after yobs dropped burning materials through a letterbox.

Arsonists set fire to Sheila Wilson’s home in Second Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea, on Saturday night as she and her three grandchildren slept upstairs.

The family was woken by smoke alarms and a neighbour, who spotted the blaze at around 11.30pm.

Horrified firefighters said the family was around two minutes away from death through smoke inhalation.

Mrs Wilson, 57, and her three grandchildren Thomas, 18, and four-year-old twins Jonathan and Keely, managed to escape without injury.

“We had just come home from a holiday in Pwllheli,” said Sheila. “I heard the alarm going off and somebody was banging on the front door, I went out to see what was happening.

“There was thick black smoke and fumes all through the house, it was choking. I looked at the front door and could see flames coming out of the letterbox.

“How could anybody do this with children in the house?”

North Wales Fire Service’s development manager Gary Brandrick said the fire alarm probably saved their lives.

“Had the alarms not alerted the occupants, we could easily have been dealing with another four fire deaths, including the needless loss of life of two young children,” he said.

“Deliberately ignited fires are extremely worrying for the fire service as lives of the firefighters and the public are put at risk. In this case, the lives of four people were put in grave danger.

“There have been 51 incidents of deliberate fire in Conwy alone since January. Some of these are small fires affecting skips and bins, but cause a huge drain on the service by tying up resources that could be needed for life saving at incidents elsewhere.”

He praised Sheila for the way she handled the situation and urged people with information on the arson attack to get in touch with police.

North Wales Police’s inspector Alan Brown added: “Crime scene investigators have been to the house and we are treating this as suspicious.”

Anybody with information on the incident is asked to get in touch with North Wales Police on 0845 607 1002. For a free home fire safety check call 0800 169 1234, e-mail cfs@nwales-fireservice.org.uk or visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk